Night Howls

by Amber Lynn

  “No. She knows she cannot beat us, so she wants to have a little fun. We go in on three. I will be taking to the air as soon as I get enough room. They won’t know where to look. I will somersault in and try to clear you some space.”

  “Got it.”

  “One. Two. Three,” I say and spring into action.

  I swing open the door and immediately complete the somersault I spoke of. While I am in motion, I fire towards where I can smell the people in the room. I cannot tell if anything hits while I am moving, but I don’t stop firing.

  As I complete my turn and come to my feet, I spread my golden wings and launch into the air. From this vantage point, I can see I have hit two of the targets and Alex quickly finishes off three more when he enters the fray.

  I shoot Kris and a blue paint smear from Alex's gun appears on Sam bringing a quick end to the battle. Now, we just have to find Phee and the flag. I still don’t smell the scamp, so that leaves only one place for her to be, if she is playing by the rules.

  The only place in the gym that I wouldn't be able to smell her is the quiet room. After sparing for hours on end, we sometimes need a little time to ourselves to calm down before we are acceptable company. The quiet room allows us a place to do that without any external interruptions. It is soundproof, smellproof, and probably bombproof.

  “Have Phee and Sam bonded on a telepathic level yet?” Alex asks a question I should have thought about already.

  “She hasn't said for sure. Since neither of them is defective, I wouldn't doubt it. We can go charging in if you want. One of us might get hit, but I doubt she could get both of us.”

  “I was hoping to get through the exercise with no one killed from our team.”

  “Does that mean you have thought of another way into the room?” I am pretty sure the quiet room doesn't have any secret tunnels into it. It is a good choice to hide in, but I would have still gone with the pool because there is more room to move. I hate having to try to fight in tight spaces. Even with my small stature, they are too constricting.

  “I distinctly remember you having a passion for air ducts. I know of an entrance that should take you right into the room. The way the air flows to the room should make it so she has no idea you are coming.”

  “Lead the way.” Sam can tell her we are coming all he wants, but he is stuck playing dead by the pool and cannot relay our insertion point.

  Alex directs me to an air vent high up on the wall behind the track. I wonder if he brought a set of stilts. I tuck my gun into the front of my pants and give him a doubtful look.

  “I will boost you up there,” he says taking his place directly below the vent. “The cover just slides off, so there isn't a need for a screwdriver. The vent will lead you into the ceiling above the quiet room. It is just a drop ceiling. You should be able to slide one of the panels out of the way and drop down. You will have to be careful on the beams supporting the tiles, though, because they aren't meant to hold a lot of weight,” Alex instructs.

  “Sounds good,” I say climbing up him and reaching to slip off the vent cover. It easily comes off and I hand it down to him.

  After I pull myself up and in, I start crawling my way down any path I find that leads to the right. The quiet room isn't far from where I started and I quickly exit the vent to find the aforementioned weak beams. I may be able to lift over 600 pounds, but I weigh just over a hundred. I hope the ceiling will take it. When I get to the tile in the far corner of the room, I lift it up slightly so I can take stock of the situation.

  Below, I can see Phee staring at the door with her gun ready to fire. Oh my little chickadee, you are in for a rude awakening. I move, ever so slightly, to retrieve my gun. Making no noise, I pull it out and take aim. With just a slight pull on the trigger, my blue paintball is on its way. Just before it hits its target, Phee spins around to face me, but it is too late for her. I take my earplugs out now that I have fired. There is no need for them to remain in when the other team is all dead.

  “We should have required you to wear bells on your shoes,” she says in defeat. She doesn’t seem overly depressed about the outcome.

  Alex, knowing what is going on from my head, opens the door and grabs the flag from the floor next to her. “We win,” he says only mildly gloating.

  Chapter 6

  Bath time fun, Hellhound style

  I call down to let the guys in the garage know it is safe to come back. From the sound of Jonas' voice, it is not a moment too soon. Being cramped in a non-moving vehicle with Clyde probably isn't any more fun than being in a moving one with him.

  “Did you guys have fun, even though we wasted you all in record time?” I ask as Alex, Phee, and I meet up with the rest of the students in the main open area of the gym.

  “It was an eye opening experience,” Marc says. Tonight the numbers just aren't working for me, since they aren't all here, so I have reverted to their names. Yes, I do actually know them. I just thought the number thing was cooler.

  “I think we would learn more if we watched you teachers play against each other. We were no match for you guys and we only got a maximum of five shots off before we were all toast,” Annie adds. I think a more neutral location would have made things a little more interesting. If we had to enter the room head on, they might have been able to hit one of us, emphasis on the might.

  “Maybe another night. It is getting late and Jake should be getting back soon, so why don't we pack things in,” Alex suggests. I am liking that idea. The kids start wandering off and I go about making sure all the paintball paraphernalia is put back in the toy box.

  “By the way, I am now safely in Emerald Town and have seen nothing that indicated there was danger lurking,” Sebastian says through our link. “I have been here for about thirty minutes, but I didn't want to interrupt your fun.”

  “Thanks for checking in. When you get back expect a paintball war,” I reply. Now that I have had a taste, I want to go against a more worthy opponent.

  “I look forward to it. Get some sleep, it might help calm you.”

  I am sure neither of us expect that is possibly true, but I will let him have his little fantasy. “Good night. I love you, and I will talk to you in the morning.”

  “Love you, too,” he replies and I can feel him leave to go back to whatever he was doing before his little check-in.

  Maybe I should ask Demon Boy if he has one of those handy impenetrable bubbles I was thinking about earlier. I bet out of everyone I know, he is the most likely to have one just laying around and he has mentioned before how much he wants me and Sebastian to keep connected. I may just have to make a call tomorrow and find out.

  “He is going to be fine,” Alex says taking me away from imagining Sebastian walking around in a giant bubble suit. The pictures my mind comes up with are really funny sometimes and it isn’t the first time I have thought about at least one of the guys in a bubble.

  “Perhaps if you guys say that enough times, it will overpower whatever is causing me to think the opposite. So far, it isn’t working. Are you sleeping with me tonight?” I ask as I close the lid on the paintball equipment and stand up, only to find myself wrapped up in Alex’s arms.

  “Promise not to cut anything off?” he queries as he squeezes me tightly to his chest.

  “I don’t believe you warranted that punishment today. In fact, you telling Jake off earlier kind of turned me on.”

  “Really? Enough to move around the bases a little?”

  “Not tonight, but if you keep up the good work you might get to third soon.”

  I still cannot say that I am in love with Alex. We are getting along great and have both established ways to deal with each other’s little ticks. I am getting better at not wanting to kill him for every word that escapes his lips and he in turn has learned just the level he can take his obnoxiousness before I want to kill him.

  This time without Sebastian physically here will most likely help us even more, as much as I hate to think about
it. Sebby usually serves as a referee for us and is good at taking my mind away from the annoying things Alex is known to do. With him out of the picture, it will give us a nice chance to play house.

  “I thought house, not doctor. In case you needed clarification on what that involves.” I alert Alex so he doesn’t get any ideas.

  “You are so cute sometimes,” he replies pinching my left cheek softly. “Let’s get upstairs and make sure Jake got home okay.”

  I follow him out to the elevator and it opens the second he pushes the button. “Do you ever get the feeling Jake is our kid?”

  “More so now that we are together. When he was just my guard, his evening activities, I guess you could call them, were not talked about as much. I heard reports of his teenager-like ways, but we never spoke about them. These days he seems a bit more proud of the fact that he sleeps with anything capable of moving. I am sure it is just a phase that he will eventually grow out of.”

  We really need to find a girl he can settle down with. I hope that when we find her, she has fur and can become a permanent fixture in his life.

  The elevator opens to my foyer and I give my usual wave to Venus and David. I still kind of want to have their curses lifted, but in a way feel that it might actually be mean if they haven’t been aware all this time. Ben won’t give me answers on whether or not they are and it is making my list of pros and cons a little hard to get written out. Awareness goes in big bold letters on the pro side of the column.

  “Hey guys. Did you have fun with the kiddies?” Jake asks as he stuffs a last bite of steak into his mouth. He is sitting on his usual couch and looks to be enjoying himself.

  “Sure did. We played capture the flag paintball style. If you would have stuck around, we could have put you on their team and maybe had a little bit of a challenge,” I reply on my way to the kitchen. A steak sounds delicious right about now.

  “I wish I would have been around for that. You don’t play around as much as you should and Stacy wasn’t as much fun as I thought she would be.”

  “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” I look into the fridge and find a nice Porterhouse with my name on it. Feeling nice, I grab one for Alex as well and set about giving them a quick scorch in a pan. Walt and Jonas took Clyde on a walk after being stuck with him for so long. I don’t know when they are planning to return, but I do know they don’t like their steaks to just sit around after being cooked. They will have to make their own if they come back and are hungry.

  “As much as I like women,” he starts and the words, way too much and a whole lot, come to mind, “the effort I have to put into being gentle with the human variety is a little taxing. I still have a good time, but I know I could have more fun elsewhere.”

  “Oh look, honey, our little Jakey is growing up,” I quickly send to Alex causing him to laugh.

  I throw the steaks on plates and join them back in the living room. “So, the little actress is out of the picture?” I ask as I snuggle into the couch beside Alex to eat.

  Jake sighs deeply, like the decision used up every one of his brain synapses. “I think so. I didn’t officially tell her, but I think I am going to lose her number. You don’t think any of the girls in your class are looking to hook up, do you?”

  If my eyes could shoot laser beams, I think they would be doing so now. “You will only hear this once from me, so listen up,” I say super pissed and hope my voice is projecting that emotion. “My girls are off limits. To make it into my group, they had to have some kind of trauma in their life. They do not need some Romeo that cannot keep his dick in his pants chasing them around, making promises he has no intentions of keeping. If I so much as see you smile at them, I will personally kill you. This isn’t even one of my usual threats to cut off your tallywag. This is you no longer breathing for just a smile. Do you understand?”

  “Wow, Mama Bear is in the house. I will avoid anything that will cause me certain death. Your girls are safe.” Good. He is taking me seriously, for once, must have been the laser beam eyes. “Oh, in the news I am sure you will love to hear column, I am supposed to tell you ‘hi’ from Will. He tried to get me to talk about you, but I was smart enough to just brush him off.”

  Yuck. I must wear a secret perfume I am not aware of that is called “I really liked to be fucked with”. I am going to have to work on figuring out how to get rid of that particular scent. At least Will was just asking around and not showing up on my doorstep with flowers. That would be lame and I might just let Alex handle him if it ever does occur, or Clyde. Clyde would be really fun to watch.

  “Thanks for not divulging all of my secrets. You would think after I kicked his ass the appeal would have evaporated.”

  Jake shrugs and says, “Some guys are into that kind of thing. They like their women to take charge of the situation. I kind of got that vibe off of him. I, on the other hand, like to be the one driving the action. That is why Alex originally put me on your detail. He knew I wouldn’t even let Hank get within a foot of you and a bed.” Hank being what he has named his man parts. I am still washing out my brain daily from learning that tidbit of information.

  “Yes, Jake won’t touch you that way and Jonas would assume it to be a betrayal to your father for even thinking about you in a sexual way. I cannot trust any of the other guards that much with your care,” Alex adds his logic. The fact that he could probably rip most of the guards to pieces would make me think he could keep any of them in line.

  Walt has been added to the normal werewolf guard rotation and Dante to the vampire side of things. I am up to six personal guards, so that is making things a little easier and allows the guards more downtime without following me around. Jonas, Marcus, and Walt tend to hang around close even when they are not on duty.

  “Well, I, for one, am glad to hear I won’t be needing to pick up any crying human girls as they throw themselves at your feet in the future,” I say bringing the conversation back to Jake’s big revelation. If he sticks by it, it will be a miracle.

  “No, we will only have to deal with the overly hormonal paranorm variety. Which do you think is worse?” Alex asks as I finish my steak. He takes my plate and wanders into the kitchen to get rid of both of ours.

  “We cannot expect him to keep it in his pants, and humans make me itch, so I am choosing the paranorm variety.”

  “I don’t know. A scorned werewolf can cause a lot more damage,” Alex suggests.

  “You guys do know I am still sitting here, right?” Duh. The conversation wouldn’t be as much fun without him hearing it.

  “Clyde is going to need a bath,” Jonas says dragging Demon Dog into the room. Not what I wanted to hear. We have played bath time before and it wasn’t something I put on my list of things I wanted to do again.

  I look at my little guy and find him covered in mud. Rain was not in any forecast I heard about. “Care to explain?” I ask imagining Clyde somehow finding the only mud hole in the entire city with his super sniffer.

  “There is a water main break. It is causing all sorts of trouble over on Elm,” Walt supplies.

  “Why didn’t you guys just hose him off downstairs? You had to have made a mess hauling him up here,” Alex states. You had better believe I am not cleaning the floors. The dog is one thing, but this girl doesn’t do linoleum.

  “He wouldn’t let us. He wanted his mommy,” Jonas answers as he hands me the leash.

  “Clyde this is so not cool,” I say standing up and heading towards the guest bath. There is no way he is getting in my tub. Plus, the other bath has a detachable showerhead that will make this easier. “What shampoo do you think we should use tonight?”

  The dog cannot respond to me, but I find myself asking him questions all the time. Rumor is that if he gets a hold of some of my blood, we will be able to communicate. With all the other voices filling my head already, that isn’t something I am planning on doing any time in the near future.

  “I don’t think you have found one strong enough to cover up the
sulfur yet,” Jonas yells at my back as I make it to the washing station.

  I place Clyde into the tub and grab the showerhead. Only Clyde’s breath smells like sulfur to me, since he barks fire, I assume that is normal. The rest of Clyde just smells like wet dog, but the guys assure me it is like living with matches constantly being lit.

  I make short work of rinsing out all the gunk from his fur and lather him up with my oatmeal doggie wash to give his coat a nice shine. He does a good job of standing still in the bath when the water is on, but once I turn it off and stand to put the sprayer away, he shakes sending a flood of water everywhere. It was cute when he was a little puppy. Now, not so much. Before I can tell him what a bad dog he is, he jumps out of the tub and streaks out of the room.

  “Not cool, Clyde,” I scream running after him with a towel in my hand. At least the water will dry without extra cleanup, unlike the mud that Walt looks to be mopping up.

  I find Clyde curled up in his bed, making sure to thoroughly saturate it with moisture. I can see his game plan now. He should know better than to try to pull this, but he is still young no matter how large he grows.

  “You will be sleeping on the couch tonight, Mister. Alex has already called the big bed.” That makes him narrow his eyes a bit, before he returns to his usual grin. I think Alex’s shoes will be joining Sebastian’s tonight for an evening snack. “Now, come here so we can dry you properly. I don’t want you catching a doggie cold.”

  He waddles over, now that fun time is over. His short fur doesn’t retain a lot of water and his bed has probably collected the majority of it, so it takes no time to get him dry.

  “There we go. Let’s go grab you some hamburger before we call it a night,” I say leading him towards the kitchen.

  Alex, being the sweetheart he is turning into, has a plate prepared and he sets it on the floor for our little guy. “As annoying as he can be, I really like it when you refer to him as ‘ours’.”